CobraGSF

iTrader: (2)

GSF owner here.. so based on what MingoFish said.. i should have my lexus dealer change my differential fluid at 10k miles? My car just hit 10k after 2 years of ownership. Should i be changing the tranny fluid too?

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

The gearbox oil is very long lived. We've been debating this in the IS F forum for years.

I wouldn't change the diff oil with less than 20k miles on it. Even that is pretty short.

Mingofish

Apone

Now I feel like an M4/M3 owner with a broken 1st gen DCT trans. Who says you can't get the german car experience with japanese company

Hell, it's under $5k to replace the faulty IMS bearing on a Cayman.

I will take solace in the fact that neither of those cars have a 70k mile warranty and that we won't be out in the cold on this. But man, a failure outside of warranty would be a sad day.

@lobuxracer - can the TVD be replaced with a traditional diff? One would obviously only do this if the TVD failed to avoid the $20K outlay.

Bluecarbon

redspencer

iTrader: (1)

I recall seeing the listed $20k unit price for the TVD several years back and was always curious how Lexus and the RCF/GSF owners would resolve the issue of a broken TVD unit when the 72 month powertrain warranty expires. Based on the report of at least one TVD going bad, it shows that these components are not entirely bulletproof. Though there may not be a service interval for changing out the TVD fluids, my guess is that 30k-50k would be a good range.

If replacing an out-of-warranty TVD with a Torsen LSD is possible, it would be interesting to see how the ECU would react as it will attempt to send signals to the missing TVD to lock or release the clutch packs.

IIRC, the rear half shafts on the TVD equipped RCFs are of different lengths and would likely need to be replaced with the half shafts used on the RCFs with Torsen LSDs.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I am certain replacing the TVD with a conventional LSD wouldn't be nearly as expensive as replacing the entire unit. That said, it's pretty unlikely you'll ever have to replace the whole thing as a unit. All the internal parts are available individually, so if something breaks you should be able to fix it at a much smaller cost.

If I were building a track car, I'd ditch the TVD and put an OS Giken TCD in it.

Jasoneo5

iTrader: (4)

Did we ever get consensus here? Just picked up a 18' GSF with 40k and wondering when I should service the diff

05RollaXRS

Mine is at 10K miles. I am going to ask the dealership next year when I take it in for servicing regarding TVD fluid replacement. I think it is a good idea to have it replaced.

MCB1970

It will interesting to see if the dealership will do it since it is not on the maintenance schedule. I spoke to local Lexus dealership and they said they would not do it because it is not recommended by Lexus. I spoke with the owner of an independent transmission shop who specializes in high end performance cars. He was familiar with the RCF and asked me if my car had the TVD. He recommended changing the transmission and TVD fluid at 100k.

JT2MA71

iTrader: (7)

I changed mine (TVD fluid and Diff oil) at 12K miles. I did it because I wanted to switch to Amsoil lubricants. The factory TVD fluid and Diff gear oil both looked new obviously since they've only seen 12K miles.